Chanelle helps children through play
Chanelle Chan completed an honours degree in special education, and is accredited to work with children who have experienced trauma, as well as children who have ADHD or dyslexia.
MOKOPANE – Remedial educational therapist, Chanelle Chan, says the use of games to help children from age three to Gr 12, can help to solve problems in her occupation.
“I am a therapist who helps to identify and solve problems with special children as well as with normal children. Although I apply a psychological aspect, I do not use psychology to deal with problems such as trauma. I use play therapy.”
She matriculated at Carolina Academy before joining the North West University’s Potchefstroom campus, where she obtained a B.A, in clinical psychology with a major in English.
“I also obtained an international certificate in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) and completed a teacher’s diploma specialising in Afrikaans and English.”
Chanelle completed an honours degree in special education, and is accredited to work with children who have experienced trauma, as well as children who have ADHD or dyslexia.
“I also assist children who struggle with reading and summarising assignments, and I test children for dyslexia and auditory processing ability.”
She says children often cannot interpret and express what it is that bothers them.
“I apply play therapy around the child as a whole. That’s how I approach play therapy. In the playroom you take the child back to the origin of the situation, without speaking. Then they process it subconsciously and realise there is a solution. It is also the case that the longer a child struggles with a problem, the more problems arise such as behavioural problems.”
Chanelle says that every toy has a specific meaning to a child and this helps her to understand the child’s problem
“We always think that children are too young to understand or that they are not adaptable, but a child interprets situations much better than we realise and the situations may have an after-effect two or three years later. After a few sessions with the child, the parents and I sit down where I give complete feedback and we then work on the solution together.”
For Chanelle, children are her passion and she says it’s a wonderful feeling to know that she can assist not only a child, but the parents too.
